Everything Kalen DeBoer Said About Alabama Making the CFP

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer has a press conference on Sunday afternoon after his team was selected as the No. 9 seed in the second iteration of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide (10-3) was not penalized for its SEC Championship Game loss to Georgia and will play against No. 8 Oklahoma on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. CT (ESPN/ABC).

A full transcript from DeBoer's media availability is below. The Sooners (10-2) defeated the Crimson Tide 23-21 on Nov. 15 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, and are making their first CFP appearance since the 2019-20 season.

Opening Statement:

"Important day for our program, getting a chance to have a berth in the CFP, the playoffs here. Just something our guys have been working for, going back, being in January, so 11 months and, the work paying off and everything we did this season leading to this opportunity. Obviously, a team that we know well with Oklahoma, one that you know when they came here, and obviously was, it was a battle, was a physical game, and, came out on the wrong side. But looking forward to, third meeting in in less than two years, and really just probably 12 or 13 months. And so each team knows what to expect. Know each other well, and I know it'll be a hard-fought game."

On Justin Jefferson and Zabien Brown, who left the SEC Championship Game with injuries:

“We haven't met and got the report, but just going off of last night, I would expect, with the severity, that they'll both be good to go with the whole week off here and stuff.”

On what he'll be looking at from this year's game in the regular season:

"Yeah, that's a good question because that was a really important part of the game, the field position in general. When you get to this point, and you're playing the top tier teams, that's what it is. It's getting short fields, making your own breaks, the turnovers, special teams play. That's when field position can be flipped the quickest. I think just consistent execution. We moved the ball, but it wasn't as consistent as it needed to be. Maybe in the fourth quarter, not able to get that drive, and I haven't really gone back and reviewed the film, but it wasn't that long ago. Coming up short at the end of the game was disappointing because that's something we've done a pretty good job of. Other than the turnovers, because we got down in their territory and had the big play was the interception for a touchdown, but there's more plays to it than that. There's things that happened that you'll go back to, but there's things they'll evaluate, we'll evaluate and make adjustments to what we saw and what the original plan was."

On Domani Jackson, who made the SEC title game start:

"As far as the detail grading of the film and things like that, haven't got to that, watched it, since last night. The thing I'll say about Domani is, it was a slow start this year. And just coming off of a lot of things that he was taking care of physically. I'll give Domani a ton of credit. The second half here, there's a lot of guys that, the rotation that we're working with, with Dijon [Lee Jr.] coming in and playing more snaps. A lot of guys could've handled it a different way, and he just had the right mindset. He just went back to work. I couldn't be more proud of the way he responded. Knowing that he would be heavily involved, he knew that this was a great opportunity. I'm sure there's things, again, that we'll get to, that you can do better. I think that would be the case any time you have a, for sure a loss, but really proud of the way he has responded this latter part of the season, the second half here. He's been in the rotation and continued to stay in it. I'm proud of him."

On teams opting out of bowl consideration, and whether Alabama would have done the same if excluded from the College Football Playoff:

"Nah, we had never had that conversation, no. No."

On whether he thinks conference title games present a disadvantage with the extra game:

"I think I could probably answer that question right now, and then next year it be a different dynamic and I might have a different answer for you. I know that we went into that game, we wanted to win it. It's been a traditional thing, and what I've told you all week long, or said all week long about the importance of this game to our program, I meant it. Obviously, Georgia did a great job really controlling the tone of the game, really there, with the blocked start. I felt like we were back and forth there. It was a physical game, even right away. Trying to establish that, both sides, and then the field-position thing kicked in there with a couple of drives back-to-back with the punt and then the interception too. And so I think getting back to your question, it's such a valued thing here, especially the SEC, to win the conference championship and to be in that be in that moment, be in that platform, obviously, we were on the wrong end of it, but, yeah, something that's above me. We'll have to continue to evaluate that. But I think, I still want to have that, to be a part of it. And the question, I think mainly, is like, how is it going to impact you. Us being in the playoff hopefully gives people hope that you can continue to have these conference championships, maybe tweak a few things to make sure you got the right teams in them each and every year. Kind of think about other conferences and that it can mean something, both in that moment and also have a positive impact, or what you think it should be going to the playoff."

On the last 24 hours and the team's reaction to being selected:

"The game, with it just being last night, they were certainly down, poured a lot into that. That's one of our goals from the beginning of the year. Just when you don't control your own destiny now and you're putting it in someone else hands, I know there's so many good teams in the country, you don't know. And so we did not, this was from the beginning. We did not have anything set up for today. We're meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00, and so, there's things that we have where we communicate with the team, and I just know that their response has been a lot of excitement, down as they were last night. I think they're excited and ready for the next opportunity, because they know that this, this is the next goal, the next one in the chronological line, competing in the playoffs and what that can mean with the potential national championship opportunity. That's where we're at. But, I can't wait to see him tomorrow, and we can talk about it, but haven't seen the team since last night."

On how the offensive scheme can be changed to prevent Oklahoma from having big defensive plays:

"Every game you play one year to the next, and obviously, this one's happening in a shorter amount of time. There's always things you're going to tweak and learn, learn from. We move the ball much better this year in different ways. And, we'll take some of those things and build off of them, and then we just can, got to understand what really hurt us and how we gotta counter that. So, yeah, those turnovers, you know, the interceptions that you're referring to, huge, huge plays. We always talk about, we always talk about, you create your own breaks. Make your own breaks by playing hard and playing smart and playing fast. And that's certainly what Coach [Brent] Venables has with his team, and as you're referring to the defense, and so one of the best in the country, and I think it's what you got here, is you got two really strong defenses, looking across the playoffs. And the picture there, I think the defenses certainly that you have each and every week are strong, looks like across the country, in the playoff field."

On Jam Miller, Josh Cuevas and LT Overton:

“I don’t know exactly on that. Jam, I feel, is probably the farthest along if I really kind of put that kinda in order. I feel that he’s got a really strong chance of being not just available, but ready to go at a level he can compete and do some good things for us. Josh would be, he’s on his way. Kind of just got to keep evaluating with him. I'm holding on to some pretty good hope. But you know, we'll see. He hasn’t seen our training staff yet today, but every day now for the next four or five days, they all matter. They all matter for all these guys. We’ll continue to just evaluate where LT’s at, and add Kelby Collins to the mix with their illnesses and some of the things they’re going through. I’m optimistic on a lot of these guys. I think the other part is just so many guys that in the last two to three weeks, even go back to the Oklahoma game, a number of our guys got dinged up and just grinding through it. Some of the guys, if it was someone else, they probably wouldn’t have played, but our guys wanted to get out there last night and go compete, do everything they could to help the team out.”

On the concern level for the offensive trends with the run game:

"I think a lot of that is getting getting some guys healthy, not just running backs, but, offensive line. And I think that the next, Kam, Kam Dewberry will be back. We lost Geno [VanDeMark] last night, but he'll be back, just based on that evaluation there. And I think, Parker [Brailsford], where he'll be, he improved quite a bit from the Auburn game, and with this time. I mean, I would expect him pretty much at 100 percent going into the Oklahoma game. So that's a big deal. It's a big deal there. And so, I think that's those things you build off of. The game gets away from you last night and the second half, I know it wasn't like we were moving it there in the first half either, the way you want, but it really gets away from you. Then, something that we didn't have established the first half just becomes something you really can't get going at all in the second."

On whether there are any benefits to having a shorter turnaround for this rematch (as opposed to having first faced Georgia in September):

"I think you have a much better idea of, you watch the film. We all get that. So even with the Georgia rematch, that was something you can kinda see, the growth of their team, what our team has had as far as growth, but like you said, it's certainly much tighter as far as the timeline here, and so you have a better understanding, you know? And again, I'm sure some guys that were dinged up for them probably just knowing the schedule and how we all are at that point of the year, I'm sure Oklahoma is looking to get some guys back, including, probably a continuous[ly] stronger quarterback with [John] Mateer, And so I know that that's the case, the thing that draws a lot of attention on their end. But, we're looking forward to this rematch."

On the message he may have had for Ty Simpson after the SEC title game:

"Yeah, not a lot of time. I don't see him, they go to the plane. Soon as they get done with your, with the press conference, I go do some radio and other things like that. And literally, they're waiting for me on the plane. When I get there, we land. And so, it's just a matter of just, you know, real quick, keep your head up, and we got this. A couple small things can lead to big things, and we don't need to make it bigger than it is. And we just gotta keep chipping away, much like I talked about weeks ago with the run game. I know it didn't show it last night, but there was a lot of improvement in what I look at, the Oklahoma game and the Auburn game. There were, we were one of the top three teams in rushing in SEC games against both of those teams. And so, being persistent. Just staying the course, addressing things. You do have to acknowledge and address and be truthful. But small things, and sometimes it's not just you, it's everyone around you, just everyone picking up their game and doing their part. That can go a long ways to much higher level of success that I know we all expect."